Dear John,

Kate and I want to express to you our real appreciation for the job you have done in constructing our new home in 1st Addition. If some people have had nightmares during construction projects, we've had none. In fact, the house is so new we still feel a little reluctant to walk on the wood floors or hang pictures in the drywall.

Here are some of the things we appreciated about working with you:

• You have been extremely honest and direct with us throughout the project. You did not hesitate to correct a false impression or to point out the advantages and disadvantages of various options. While every effort was made to make this house ours, you also insisted on enduring construction values.
• Your budgeting process was transparent and you kept to it as you indicated at the outset you would. This allowed me to track expenses throughout the project, which helped us meet our financial commitments. It also gave us clear options for cost cutting or splurging as we went along.
• The inclusion of a designer in your team was invaluable, and especially Joelle Jarvis who has such good taste and extensive experience. She too was committed to honesty and spoke frankly. Her extensive knowledge of available materials was a real asset. She helped us stay on our budget. She was able to help us maintain the consistency of our style and project the feel we wanted the house to have. Although she has a long list of preferred vendors, she would never hesitate to recommend other suppliers who had just the right product, even catalogues. We're sure she spent many hours doing things on our project she received no compensation for.
• Your team of sub-contractors was excellent. To a man (and woman), they were the kind of people we were very comfortable having in our home (or on the site). Being new to construction ourselves, we did not appreciate that craftsmanship at that level was still available. What also impressed us was how quickly they responded to your requests and how well they seemed to cooperate with each other.
• The relationship you had with the City of Lake Oswego was certainly to our advantage - from Kurt Olsen's drawings to Tim Quigley's preparation for inspections, we fulfilled the local requirements and moved along seemingly without delays or any costly modifications.
• Time and again we were assured you would do everything possible to make this a truly custom home - our home, just the way we envisioned it, if possible and affordable. You and Tim and many of the subs asked us repeatedly exactly how we wanted things in the house and then made them in ways that would please us.
• When it came time to make the final payment, I was pleased to discover, as expected, that all the sub-contractors had been paid and all right to lien were waived.

All the factors considered above have made building this home a delight for us and we are very pleased with the outcome.

John & Kate Warton